This invention relates to devices for cleaning the rubber blade of windshield wipers and other articles having a thin rubber blade such as squeegees.
In normal use, windshield wiper blades accumulate dirt which decreases the effectiveness of the blade in cleaning the windshield. This leads to streaking, and in severe cases, scratching of the windshield. Several methods have been used in the past to correct this problem, but none have met with total success. In one method, the wiper blade is trimmed as necessary, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,973,577 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,886,657. This method raipidly diminishes the blade, requiring the entire blade to be replaced at frequent intervals. In another method, the sides of the blade are scraped to dislodge dirt, as disclosed in U.K. patent 2182550 and German patent 3635360. In U.K. patent 1182550, a device is disclosed wherein oppositely directed projections are engaged with opposite faces of the blade. As the blade is drawn longitudinally through the device, the blade is made to take a meandering path through the projections. During the course of this action, both the sides of the blade and the tip of the blade are scraped. However, particularly for blades having a blunt tip where the wiping action occurs at the corners of the tip, it appears that this device would be abusive to the blade, leading to deterioration of the wiping action. In German patent 3635360, a similar device is disclosed having a V-shaped groove whose sides form frictional surfaces embodied as parallel equidistant file teeth projecting from the surfaces. Again, it appears that this device would be abusive to the blade, particularly if the blade employs a blunt tip.